What if fatigue, irritability, allergies, sensory overwhelm, learning difficulty, and frequent illness aren’t the brain doing something wrong, but actually part of an intelligent and adaptive response? Nearly half of all children in the U...

Is the engineering of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) a dangerous technology posing grave risks to human and ecological health? Or are GMOs a potent new tool in the onward march of modern agricultural technology in its race to feed the world?...

In my career as a naturopath, I’ve inadvertently wound up working almost exclusively with women. Over the past few years, there are certain things that I’ve found myself desperately wanting these women to deeply know and understand. These are the...

Biodynamics is a holistic, ecological, and ethical approach to farming, gardening, food, and nutrition. Biodynamic agriculture has been practiced for nearly a century, on every continent on Earth. Biodynamic principles and practices are based on...

Many people who are unfamiliar with buying food directly from the farm ask us if we’re organic. My standard response is that we are not certified organic by the National Organic Program (NOP), but we consider ourselves to be “beyond organic.” That, of...

As time marches on, I enjoy the various phases, stages, and changes life brings. In this ebb and flow, there have been times when I haven’t been able to live out my ideal as food provider to my family. Let’s face it, nourishing a family with...

“Why do we have to eat vegetables, of all things, to be healthy?” In all honesty, this common sentiment of our children usually varies very little from our own opinion about the matter. Before approaching the aim of improving our nutrition, it...

As most regular Pathways readers know, I have a keen interest in food and agriculture—two peas in a pod, in my opinion. Not only do I find the husbandry of food-producing animals captivating and fulfilling, but I also enjoy reading up on government...

Sometimes even the best of intentions have unforseen consequences
Chronic illness has become the new normal for children.
Yet much of what is being done to children—
medications they receive like Tylenol and antibiotics,
t...

For six weeks this summer, my wife and I participated in a program on Whidbey Island, Washington, called Detox and Discovery. It was led by Toni Marthaller-Andersen, a professional nurse-practitioner who’s passionate about the role of nourishment i...

When we offer our children the freedom to participate, they learn life skills.When kids learn basic homesteading skills, they get a number of really important advantages in life. Here’s a short list of what they gain:

The first of the blueberries are coming in now, and most mornings one of us stops by the patch on our way in from chores to snag a handful or three. We planted the 90-something bushes 16 years ago, before we’d even broken ground on the house. This...

After World War II solid baby foods began to replace
breastfeeding. Here’s how it happened.
More often in this postwar period,
embedded in discussions of infant
feeding were assumptions about
civilization, progress,...

If you’re like most Americans, health is the most important aspect of your life that needs improving. Without adequate health and well-being, you can kiss most of your other goals goodbye. Declining health and vitality rob you of the energy you n...

Moms and food go together. We imagine moms making chocolate-chip cookies for an after-school snack. The stereotype of the Jewish or Italian mother, encouraging even their grown children to eat more, holds true for mothers of many different...

Like most young children living in urban surroundings, 6-year-old Gracie thought food came from the grocery store and a plant was just a plant. Then one spring day, her mom added some pepper seeds to a backyard container, and Gracie’s world began t...

Why “sacred” foods—high in nutrition and good for brain development—are a better choice.First foods for babies are so controversial these days. If you were a child born in the ’80s, your mom probably fed you cereal before anything else. Her...

I’ll spare myself some embarrassment and not share with you the nickname my friends gave me in high school as a result of my digestive problems. I now know that the diet of my youth, which consisted of bologna sandwiches on white bread, soda, milk a...

Changes in nutrition have a greater impact on the structure and functioning of young, fast-growing bodies. More of young people’s food is converted to build organs and tissues, whereas adults convert more to energy and store this as fat.